Introduction to Media: index so far

We are over halfway through our introduction to GCSE Media Studies - we've already learned a huge amount about media language and audience. 

We now need to create an index of all our blogposts so far this term. This process is an excellent start to your revision for the January assessment in Media (not to mention the exams next year!) and will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips. Your index should include the following:

1) Introduction to the subject and you
2) Key concepts (LIAR) and analysis of Film Poster
3) Introduction to Photoshop: Fruit bowl task
4) Denotation and Connotation
5) Blog feedback and learner response
6) Camera shots photo storyboard (photos and captions)
7) TV clip camera movement analysis
8) Camerawork and editing task - Minority Report analysis
9) October assessment – feedback and learner response
10) Demographics and Psychographics - Photoshop audience profile
11) Audience theory - Blue Planet analysis
12) Audience power and the internet essay
13) Reception theory – Harry Brown trailer analysis
14) Audience essay - feedback and learner response
15) Movie marketing research task

For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work quickly and easily for checking and revision. This also means if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in assessments add exams due to gaps in your knowledge.

Index due date: complete during the lesson. Anything missing needs to be caught up over Christmas.


Christmas homework: revise for assessment

You need to revise everything we have studied in Media so far for your assessment in January. This will focus on all the media language and theory we have learned in the last 15 weeks.

Due: first lesson back in January

Audience power essay - feedback and learner response

Your audience power essays have shown fantastic progress in Media - well done! 

It's brilliant to see you writing in such depth having clearly picked up many of the key points regarding audience, power and the impact of the internet. 

The first part of your learner response is to read the email from your teacher giving you feedback on your essay. If anything doesn't make sense, ask your teacher - that's why we're here! 

Your audience essay learner response is as follows:

Create a new blog post called 'Audience essay feedback and learner response' and complete the following tasks:

1) Copy and paste your feedback from the email in full - WWW, EBI and LR.

2) What was the word count for your essay?

3) What was your strongest paragraph? Why do you think it was better than others?

4) What was your weakest paragraph? Why do you think it wasn't as good as others?

5) Re-write one of your paragraphs from the essay - your teacher may have suggested an area to focus on. Make sure the written English is perfect, the paragraph sharply focuses on the question (audience power and the internet) and you include examples and statistics where possible.

Extension task

Research one of the three industries (music, film/TV, news) and find statistics and quotes that link to how the audience experience of that industry has changed as a result of the internet. For example, social media has now overtaken TV as the main news source for young people - showing how power is shifting in the news industry away from traditional institutions (full details in this BBC news article). 

If you do not finish your learner response in the lesson, this needs to be completed at home by your next Media lesson.

Industries: Film industry case study research

Industries is a vital key concept for GCSE Media.

Over the two-year Media course, we need to study the following for the Industries key concept:

• How media is produced and who produces it: the companies or organisations behind the media – owners, structures, channels, distributors, film studios etc.
• How the media is increasingly global in terms of products and ownership.
• How the media is funded: where does the money come from? What different funding models exist?
• The regulation and control of media in the UK – including how the internet has challenged traditional rules.

Movie marketing: Film industry blog task

Research the institutional details behind ONE of the following films in list 1 OR list 2:

List 1

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron
2. Captain America: Civil War
3. Guardians of the Galaxy

List 2

1. Kidulthood
2. Attack The Block
3. Billy Elliot

Use imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com and any other relevant websites you can access to find out the following information about the film you have chosen...


Your chosen movie
1) Which film have you chosen? 

2) Why did you choose this film in particular? 


Institutional background
Use IMDB to find out the institutions behind your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then look for the production company and UK distributor.

1) What was the film studio or production company behind your chosen film? E.g. Warner Brothers, Paramount etc.

2) Who was the distributor for the theatrical release of the film in the UK?



No brand loyalty
1) What genre does your chosen film fit into?

2) How can you tell it fits that genre? Be specific with reference to the trailer.

3) Does your chosen film have any stars or a director that are known for that particular genre?



It’s all a matter of timing
1) What was the UK release date for your chosen film?

2) When did the first trailer appear on YouTube for your movie? Find the earliest example you can and embed it in your blog.

3) What other examples of marketing (teaser trailers, main trailers, newspaper or TV interviews etc.) can you find for your chosen film from before the film’s release date?



It’s a social thing
1) What was the word-of-mouth like for your chosen film? If you can’t find tweets (probably blocked) use the IMDB user review rating or the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating to judge whether the public have given the movie a good review.

2) Find three quotes (no more than 25 words each) from user reviews of your movie to create a picture of what the public reaction to the film has been. Post them on your blog.



Risky business
Use IMDB to find out the box office records for your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then Box Office/Business. You may want to use the excellent website Box Office Mojo to find out the budget and box office success for the film.

1) What was the original budget for your chosen film?

2) How much money did the film make in the opening weekend?

3) How much money has the film made in total? (Look for the subheading ‘Gross’ which has the total box-office earnings listed).

4) For a film to be considered a box office success, it needs to make at least two-and-a-half times the budget in box office takings. Using this method, was the film you have chosen a success?



Stars in their eyes
Research the stars and director for your chosen film.

1) What films has the director previously directed? Are they in the same or similar genres?

2) Who is the main star in the film?

3) What other films has the main star appeared in? Are any of the films similar to the one you are researching?

4) Are the stars or the director or writer mentioned in the trailer for the film?



When you've finished the questions...

Go back to the list of films and choose a film to research from the other list. Then, work through the questions again for your second film. This will give you a brilliant insight into both big-budget Hollywood productions and lower-budget British films. If you're looking for a 7+ grade in Media this is the kind of comprehensive research and knowledge you need to build up over the GCSE course.

Take it even further...

If you've finished the questions above for TWO films - well done! Now, work through the following tasks to take your case studies to another level:

Newspaper reviews
A more traditional starting point for word-of-mouth is press reviews of the film. Almost all national newspapers carry film reviews of the big releases and positive review quotes are often used on the film's marketing material.

Read three newspaper reviews for one of your chosen films and select five quotes from each review that tell you what the reviewer thought of the film. You can look at the Guardian film website, the Telegraph film website and other reviews in magazines such as Empire.



Additional promotion
Look back 'It's all a matter of timing' question 3... What other examples of promotion can you find for one of your chosen films? TV chat show appearances (e.g. Graham Norton, the One Show etc.) Radio interviews? Make notes and embed any clips in your blog. 

Audience: Reception theory

Reception theory is an important media theory exploring how audiences respond to media texts.

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist who looked at the relationship between the text and the audience. He suggested that meanings are fluid and open to interpretation depending on context and the consumer’s experiences as individuals as well as communities.

Hall states there are three readings to any media text:

Preferred reading

The meaning the producers intend to communicate. This builds on the idea that producers can position the audience in a certain way and influence their reading so they accept the intended message by using recognised codes and conventions (such as stereotypes).

Negotiated reading

Somewhere between the preferred and oppositional reading. The message is modified (partly accepted and partly rejected) depending on the individual experiences of the audience (e.g their age, gender or social class).

Oppositional reading

The oppositional reading goes against the meaning the producers are trying to create. The audience reject the intended message and construct an opposite reading instead. This can be due to their own social, political or moral beliefs and values. 

Reception theory: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Reception theory'.

1) What is the preferred reading of a media text?

2) What is the oppositional reading of a media text?

Re-watch the trailer for the film Harry Brown:

3) How does the Harry Brown trailer position the audience to respond to the teenage characters in the film?

4) Why might young people reject this reading and construct an oppositional reading of the trailer?

Look at this McDonald's advert:

5) Write a 200 word analysis of the McDonald's advert using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.

6) Now find your own advertisement and write a 200 word analysis using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.

Extension task: 

Watch the rest of the Plan B TEDx lecture about his plan to help disadvantaged young people through film and music. Do you agree that he presents a positive view of young people?


Finish for homework if you don't complete this during this week's lessons - due next Thursday.